Can ropejumping help with running/jogging?

[avivlugt]

I'll probobly be going to the army soon. I'm living in Israel so I'll have to join soon. So I should maybe start running a bit to prepare, as I am not to good at it. It's not that I get tired fast, but my calf's get sore soon. But I was wondering if doing a lot of rope jumping does the same thing? Like if you'd be able to do that for a long time you can also run a further distance?

[Alexander Moreen]

Your calfs get sore as in muscle pain? Or they get sore as in shin splints? If you mean muscle pain then it will help a bit, but why not just run more often? If you mean shin splints then you need to lay off the running for awhile or it will just get worse from aggravation.

[avivlugt]

I mean as in muscle pain.

[Nicholas Sortino]

Yes, jumping rope will help your running. But running will help your running even more. I would suggest mixing it up. If you are running 4 days a week do 2 interval days (vary the types of intervals each time, check http://www.Crossfitendurance.com, 1 distance day and 1 sprint day (shorter distances and longer rests than intervals).

[Joshua Naterman]

I agree. The best running program I ever did was very similar. We did a 3 mile interval, where we started out with a 1 mile jog at an 8 minute pace, then sprint 400m, jog 400m, sprint 400m, jog 400m, sprint 200m, jog 200m, sprint 200m, jog 200m, sprint 200m, jog 200m, sprint 200m, jog 200m. And then there were 4 mile runs with a 28 minute time limit. Brutal, but I became a running MACHINE.

You shouldn't start with those kinds of distances, but the basic idea is great. This prepared me very well for BUDS, which is Navy SEAL basic training. Lots and lots of running. I looked at the site and just the heel strike video makes me want to slap them. Every single animal on the planet has the same basic foot structure we do, and not one of them runs on the heels. Not elephants, not dogs, not cats, not horses. Nothing. Be careful what you take away from here. I do not see any specific running guidelines, just a list of affiliates and some videos of what the community is doing. You may find a lot of good advice there, I do not know, but what I have seen makes me cringe. I would much rather see you get advice on scaling your running work either here from Nick and a few others of us who have had experience with all this than getting advice like "you should hell strike" when the best distance runners on earth grow up running barefoot and still run in plain sandals if they wear anything at all. Try running with your heels barefoot. You can't, it will hurt. Learn to run barefoot, and from there transition to wearing shoes and boots if you must, but use the same techniques. Don't change your stride from the barefoot stride and you will be fine. That's seriously it.

If you haven't been running, just do a slow 1k for now, 2-3 times a week, and add a .5 k every other week or so. If you're feeling really good you could do .5k more each week, but that's up to you. I wouldn't add distance faster than that. Once you get to where you can run 3-5k as your regular run I'd start working on the intervals like Nick said. Alternatively, you could try doing less than full sprints on one of those days. Take your time, it should be a month or two before you try your first true all-out sprint!

Edit: I hope it is clear that my recommendations here are for someone who does not run, but I think that the distance guidelines apply to everyone. True non-runners need to be conservative when they start, and if you aren't running on your fore/midfoot then you should switch to that style of stride and learn how to do it correctly. Search for how to run barefoot on google and there will be excellent articles.

[Nicholas Sortino]

What website are you talking about Slizz? Were you referring to CFE? They do not advocate heel striking at all. They are big supporters of the POSE method, and teach forefoot running at their certs. I am not sure what video you looked at, but I have never seen one advocating a heel strike.

I like to use it as a template for my own run workouts. They have an abundance of different style intervals, so it is hard to get bored (if you enjoy running that is).

[Joshua Naterman]

CFE, yes Look at their list of "newest videos" on the right. You may have to scroll down a little bit to see it, but the words "Heel strike" caught my eye.

I agree with pose running almost entirely, I figured that was more or less what you were intending the link for lol! Where do you find their interval templates?

Edit: It appears their site crashed right after I watched the heel strike video (how fitting!). Is it working for you?

[Blairbob]

Sliz, are you talking about CFE? CFE espouses the POSE method of running on the mid to forefoot. They are against heel striking.

[Nicholas Sortino]

CFE, yes Look at their list of "newest videos" on the right. You may have to scroll down a little bit to see it, but the words "Heel strike" caught my eye.

I agree with pose running almost entirely, I figured that was more or less what you were intending the link for lol! Where do you find their interval templates?

Edit: It appears their site crashed right after I watched the heel strike video (how fitting!). Is it working for you?

Did you watch the video? The guy says heel striking is wrong and to land on the forefoot.

They post a daily WOD. It is in the middle. I use those for my run templates. I take the three days between rest days and spread them out over a week. You can also click on the WOD archives.

[Joshua Naterman]

I watched the vid, but apparently heard him wrong. He's not super clear about what he is saying to the point that I would want uneducated people listening to that video, but I see that you are right and he is advocating forefoot landing. Whew! I was like... what is wrong with these guys? How did they look at the foot structure and then determine that a heel landing was a good idea?

Now I see that somehow I mis-interpreted the video. I just watched it again.

[avivlugt]

Thanks for the replies I've never really done any running, except for for playing tag, of having to run once a year at high school for charity( only the first three years).

I run bare foot with th warm-up at gymnastics, but there really isn't much hard surface.

Thanks for the replies They are really help full. My father just had an idea for me. To go to the beach on th bicycle( is maybe a 30 minute ride) and then run at th beach. And I was about to ask in this post how to run barfoot but I guess I can run barefoot on the beach:)

I assume this video is how you xplaind to run barefoot, right? :

I'll try it tomorrow when warming-up at gymnastics and I'll look up/ask my father how to get to the ebach. We did it once togther but I don't rmmber all of it. Got no gymnastics on thursday so maybe I can try it out then

I was also wondering, a bit different subject, about strength training. I just got the BtGB, is all the gymnastics strength exercises a good enough preparation, or should I also work on muscle endurance?

Edit: If I maybe still have some months before I have to get in, and I progress well, would it maybe also be a good idea to start running with a backpack an something like bottles of water to add wait to prepare for running/walking with gear?

[Nicholas Sortino]

I don't really know how the isreali military does things, but if it anything like the US military, they value muscular endurance over strength. BtGB is amazing for building strength and will build some good muscular endurance, but if your goal is primarily endurance to get ready for training, you may want to adjust it a bit. I am not sure what you need to be able to do, so I would have a hard time just guessing to tell you how to prepare.

As far as running with weight, I would build up to that very slowly. Start off very light, maybe a camel full of water (this is a bonus because you can hydrate weight away!). Over time you can build up more weight. I would never run with more than maybe 20 lbs unless you guys do a lot of that in your training. On the other hand you can build up to 40-60 lbs for rucking and that would be a good goal.

I wouldn't add more than 5 lbs a month for running and 10lbs a month for rucking. 1 ruck per week is plenty to prepare you for it, and is a decent active recovery exercise. If you go long and fast it also helps build mental toughness. Do those rucks in boots because you almost certainly will have to in the military, and it makes a difference.

I would also run at least occasionally in shoes. I am sure you will have to in training, and there is a difference, so you should at least be prepared for it. Barefoot running is great, but since you are training with this goal in mind, you should really prepare more specifically for it.

[Joshua Naterman]

I agree. Practice at least half your running in the boots you will wear in the military, because those are probably what you're going to be running in. At the very least, use boots of the same or slightly greater weight.

You can easily hike with a ton of weight. Our Marine combat engineers routinely do 10 mile ruck humps with 120 lbs of gear wearing gas masks. For those of you who know what this means, it's actually MOP level 4 that they do this hike in. Yikes... I'm not suggesting that you hike that heavy, at first it should be 30-40 lbs. That will be fairly manageable, and I would start with a few miles and build up to 6-8. That shouldn't take more than 2 hours. At that point adding a few lbs a week until you hit 60 or so is plenty, but it is ok to go heavier if you feel ok.

When I was 16 I was hiking in the Appalachian mountains for 6-14 miles a day all summer with 70-90 lb packs. I was strong, it didn't bother me at all, so I carried a lot of food and made the hikes more enjoyable for the weaker kids. As for running with weight, do like Nick said and take it slow. First just get used to running, and then start running with a camel back or something, and when you run with weight use a light weight vest or a weighted belt. I wouldn't increase the weight more than 2 lbs a week and I wouldn't run with more than 30-40 lbs or run weighted for more than 2-3 miles. Those will probably be more of a fast jog than a run, so keep that in mind. Trying to run fast for distance with a bunch of weight will just tear you up.

[Blairbob]

The GB WOD programming includes conditioning complexes in those 4 round GB WOD days.

As for sand running, which I currently do, you have to be careful for unseen smooth rocks. I was running fine and then hit a field of them and my feet were a bit sore for a week or two. As well, it's easy to twist an ankle, mainly if you're sprinting. I haven't yet, though I did pull a calf and think this was more of a sprint volume issue to couple with the fact I have tight calves apparently.

GB and strength is good preparation for life or sport, but you're gonna need that muscle endurance. GB conditioning WOD's will help with this but more than likely a lot of your MIL conditioning will be past that 3-5 minute conditioning time interval. It may not be as intense as those 4 round GB WOD complexes, but it will be longer and more volume in the end, no doubt.

[Joshua Naterman]

Sand running will completely wreck your legs for the first few weeks. It is VERY tiring at first, and your feet and calves will not be used to all the extra work you do. That's a very good reason to start out slow.

That rock incident sounds painful!

[avivlugt]

Ok, so I started today for the first time. Didn't go to the beach, just went on my sandles on the pavement where I live. I think I did about 1 km. I used the gps in my mobile phone to see about where I should run, and then turn back and run back again. I did have a short brake in the middle to have a look how far I got. I kept in mind not to heal strike, I think that went pretty well.

How would you suggest getting the muscle endurance? Is practicing push-ups, dips and sit-ups?

Edit: Didn't only feel my calves but also get tired, or how ever you call it. So hopefully when I get to larger distances I'll be able to take longer turn with gymnastics As long as I get to go one with that ofcourse Just waiting for the next letter from the army now when I need to go back...

Next edit:P : I used my mobile phone to guess how far I had run. How do you normally 'calculate that? Especially, although I am far off that, if you'd be getting to the sprinting and running? Like how do you know you finished 400 m etc

[Joshua Naterman]

GPS is fine, they're reasonably accurate. Even crappy ones are generally within 10 feet of actual distance.

Being perfectly accurate doesn't matter unless you're trying to do a specific time for a specific distance, and even then it only matters when you're actually testing yourself, which shouldn't happen all that often. In that case, go to a track or measure it with a car and a GPS!